Fan(atic) clubs

While I'm on my pop culture spiel, let me relate the gist of a conversation from Bible study last Friday. The topic came up of people who are obssessed with a particular work of fiction. Of course in today's culture, the first to come to mind is LOTR. (The fans have been there since the books came out, but the movies greatly increased their numbers.) We all know what Trekkies are. And Dungeons and Dragons (with all the RP games that followed) has enjoyed an equal degree of fanaticism.

Now, many people ask "Why on earth would anyone devote so much time and energy to a game/book/movie/etc.?" That's not my question because I have found the tendency to be obssessed with fiction inside myself. It makes sense to me that someone would learn Tolkien's made-up languages. Explaining the phenomenon is another matter, however.

I think that to a great extent we find our own lives mundane, boring. There is in us a desire for something bigger, more heroic. We want to explore strange lands, fight evil, or just have greater power than we experience in everyday life. There is a spiritual aspect as well. All these stories deal with unseen forces and things that cannot be scientifically measured.

Here, then, is the real question: Why do we as Christians not become equally "fanatic" about our God and the very real spiritual saga going on today? It's a story that's far from mundane--complete with temporarily "deposed" King (or, rather, One Who has the position but has not yet subdued all powers for reasons of His own). We have the opportunity to participate in truly heroic ventures, saving souls, enriching lives, and thwarting a more evil being than any dreamed up by man. It satisfies our need to be involved in the spiritual world. And the whole thing is real.

So why can so many speak knowledgeably about the Balrog, elves, Klingons, and the Prime Directive, when often Christians are less capable with the real-life things of God? The best answer I can come up with goes back to LOTR. You can't talk about it, you can't "live" in Middle Earth, unless you've read the books. All of them. Several times. And studied the appedices.

So maybe that's where we need to head in our churches. Let's work harder on getting to know the Book.

[Note: This is not directed at any one church in particular. And I know of many churches and individuals who do know the Book and are as passionate about God as any Trekkie is about Star Trek. But there are trends in evangelical/fundamental/general Christianity that stray from a burning desire to know God's Word. So I got on my soapbox for a while...]